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Effective spring based cricket stumps

England may not have had any joy in Australia with the recent Ashes series, but that won't stop the cricket season from starting in a couple of months' time. Schools don't often have the facilities to have real stumps pummeled into the ground, and the same is possible the case for a large number of households. We have sets of both - pummelable stumps and some sets of mock up stumps that can be used pretty much anywhere.

These particular stumps are the best 'fake' stumps I've seen for a while. They're designed to imitate a realistic situation, and while they don't quite match up to the real thing, they certainly come close. In terms of height and shape, then there's nothing in it. The design is clinical, and the stumps sit very well on the ground. We often take these with us whenever we're out and about. Real stumps are okay on the beach, for example, but on multiple surfaces stumps such as these are ideal.

The base is flat and fits the width of the stumps but provides plenty of depth for them to function, allowing the stumps to stand upright without fear of toppling due to an uneven surface. The base is also very heavy, and this prevents windy conditions from adversely affecting the performance of the stumps. When you bowl at full pace and the ball smashes into the stumps, the noise is not necessarily authentic and the stumps spring back quite forcefully. The spring load is somewhat tense, but not so tense that there's no movement from the stumps. Over time, you should expect the springs to take on a certain amount of wear and tear and for them to weaken, although the stumps can still stand upright to a certain extent, it just makes them weaker.

They do move very easily, and most contact unless gently rolled will actually move the whole set, even though the base is relatively heavy. Carrying them around seems to be a bit of a chore to be honest, and although they're not the heaviest thing, they can be cumbersome especially if you have to carry them a fair way to play with. Proper stumps are much lighter as they don't rely on the metal base.

They come with bails as well, and although they seem to come off rather more easily than real stumps, there is still some authenticity about them, and the whole product in fact seems to have been designed with the intentions of providing as real an experience as possible. The design is more to provide the correct area for a bowler to bowl at and a batsman to protect though, and this is exactly what you get. The convenience of not having to worry about measuring and pummeling stumps into the ground and getting frustrated that you've misjudged it and the bails don't fit don't count here, as it's all set up for you already.

It's also great for kids to get to grips with the game. Not ideal for indoor use to be honest, unless you find yourself with a ridiculously large garage void of all breakables. I enjoyed playing with these, and the clatter noise of bowling into them feels really good. It's worth getting a decent bat and ball to play with, although again if you're in your rather large garage, or anywhere near anywhere that could result in damage from a proper cricket ball flying around, it may be worth rethinking where you are.

This'll set you back around the £20 mark, which is a decent price for what it is. The price can fluctuate, but this certainly seems to be an improvement on the versions I remember from school. It's more durable, enjoyable to play with and realistic for training purposes. Recommended.

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An excellent piece of equipment

Cricket is a sport which is loved by many and hated by probably more, with the weather as we have at the moment it seems odd to be writing a cricket related review, however, England are giving the Oz a damn good thrashing so why not.

Cricket stumps are of course essential for any type of cricket, whether they are painted on walls, a converted lamp post or a set of proper ash stumps and bails. However, all have limitations in terms of transportability except these metal stumps with spring mounted stumps. They also have bails on and are relatively light for transporting around.

So if your playing on the park, indoors in the nets, or in a proper game and can't use a set of wooden stumps then these are essential for the game. Indeed without them the game can't really be played. THey cost around £20 but most cricket clubs tend to have them as a part of their cricket equipment and any indoor nets tend to have a few sets of these lurking around.

The good points of these stumps is that if the ball hits them then they make a clear and distinctive noise, there is no mistaking the sound of a ball hitting one of the stumps and knocking it to the ground. They also tend to move if a bowler of reasonablt speed hits them. There can be no doubt that your out if the ball hits these stumps, they also have bails which means that a ball nibbling the stumps rather than striking them will cause the bails to be dislodged.

Disadvantages are that the stumps tend to be slightly lighter per stump than the wooden versions and occasionally a ball which would have hit the wooden stumps but not dislodged the bails will do so with the metal versions. They are also more cumbersome to transport around and heavier to drag to the middle of the park for a serious game. They also tend to lose their spring after a while and the will therefore need to be proper up or set up very gingerly before the game begins.

Cricket stumps are perhaps the last piece of cricket equipment you would consider buying, but if your serious about playing somewhere other than the back garden then they are an essential, metal versions can also be used for playing with tennis balls whereas wooden versions tend to be too stable once put into the ground.

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a brilliant buy for any club or player

Cricket stumps are a must have for any club or individual cricketer, but traditional stumps are a pain as many of you cricketers would have found at some point in your life, if the ground is too hard or you are using them in the nets it becomes impossible. This is where these great stumps from CA come in useful. They are mounted onto a metal base with springs, this allows them to be used nay where and when they are hit they just spring back upright so no fiddling around getting them level etc is needed. This saves valuable time and energy when practising and just generally makes the whole process easier. They are heavy duty and so do not blow over but aren't easy to carry because of this. Not ideal to put in your cricket bag to take everywhere just to put in when needed or carry around separately from your cricket bag. The bails are also a great touch to make these stumps as authentic and close to real stumps as possible. Overall a brilliant buy for £20, which may seem a lot but they will last you forever, guarenteed!